PhD in Social Psychology

Jouw functie

Join the Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology as a PhD candidate working on the MORDISGUST project, which seeks to understand how and why disgust relates to morality.

As a member of our research team, you will play a key role in a project seeking to better understand the relation between disgust and our moral psychology. You will work with the Josh Tybur, the project’s lead investigator, and other members of the research team, including postdoctoral researchers and at least one co-supervisor. As part of a collective endeavour, you will explore novel ideas related to disgust and morality, conduct research that contributes to new scientific knowledge in this area, and report on findings to your colleagues, at conferences, and in publications. Your work will end with a PhD dissertation. A project description is available on request from Prof Josh Tybur, j.m.tybur@vu.nl.

Your duties

• map out existing literature and generate new ideas
• co-design and implement new experiments
• collect, analyze, and curate data
• report on the findings in local meetings and (inter)national conferences
• write several scientific articles and a PhD thesis
• assist in (minor) teaching activities within the department
• contribute to the team spirit and help others achieve their goals

The plan is to publish all chapters of your dissertation as registered reports, meaning that your manuscripts and research plans will be peer reviewed before data are collected.

Jouw profiel

• You have completed or will soon complete (before the position’s starting date) a (research) master’s degree or equivalent in social psychology or a closely related field (e.g., evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, experimental philosophy
• You have a familiarity with and passion for evolutionary approaches to emotion, cognition, and/or morality
• You have experience with quantitative research methods
• You value open science and registered reports
• You enjoy quantitative analyses and have a strong background in statistics
• You have excellent verbal and written English language skills
• You are a team player with good communication abilities

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

Wat bieden wij

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of € 2.901,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.707,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
• an employment contract of initially 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
• a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge

Over ons

About the team

The MORDISGUST team is led by Prof Josh Tybur and is part of the Social Psychology group at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This group is world-leading in its work on trust, emotion, cooperation, and morality. The research group also has expertise in evolutionary approaches to psychology, cross-cultural research, political psychology, close relationships, and emotion, among other topics. We value quality research, personal development, and social cohesion within an international atmosphere. A description of the MORDISGUST project is available on request from Prof Josh Tybur, j.m.tybur@vu.nl.

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences

Developing knowledge for an active, healthy and meaningful life: that is our mission at the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences at VU Amsterdam. We maintain a broad focus on the fields of behaviour and health. Our teaching and research programmes are devoted to current developments in society. From healthy aging to e-health, and from training top athletes to social media as a teaching tool. We combine three academic disciplines: psychology, movement sciences and education. A multidisciplinary approach allows us to arrive at a better understanding of human behaviour and movement. Our aims are to help people live healthier lives, learn better and function better.

Are you interested in joining Behavioural and Movement Sciences? You are the kind of person who feels at home working in an ambitious faculty, with an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. We offer you all the space you need for personal development. Together with your 630 colleagues, you will take care of about 4,200 students.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research.

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity

Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.